DVD R Drives???

What's the difference between DVD±RW/±R Dual Format Drive and DVD+RW/+R Drive? (Note the firt one has the plus and minus sign before RW and R)

 

Hi AceH

+R and +RW discs are a different animal than -R -RW. The dual format drive you mention does all four types the other drive only the +RW/+R. I really do wish they would narrow down the DVD formats; the whole +/- R-RW thing can get terribly confusing.

Check here and here for a quick run down on the different formats of DVD recordable media.

Cheers,

ICE

 

Thanks!

 

I struggled with this same question for many months, posting here and there asking questions; but, I never got a satisfactory answer until I recently and accidentally ran across a document that told me something significant.

Also, I used to say to myself and others that I wanted to see a standard and I didn't care which one became the standard. Well, when Microsoft just recently threw their weight behind the +R, I became suspicious. Microsoft always has ulterior motives and in this case, after learning what I did just recently, I am personally very certain the decision had nothing to do with which format is better for the user. I have found that the -R is, in my opinion, definitely has very superior features.

First, it is my understanding that home DVD movie players use the -R format. Secondly, the -R disks can be written to on both sides and will hold twice as much data per disk because of that one feature--4.7 Gigs per side for a total of 9.4 Gigs per disk for the -R as opposed to single-side-only, 4.7 Gigs total, for the +R.

So, why would one choose the +R when it lacks home DVD player compatibility and will hold only half as much data as the -R? I have absolutely no idea.

For me, the choice is simple. Get a burner that will do both in order to have as much compatibility as possible. But, burn only -R for my own use, simply because I can store twice as much data in the same space and it is compatible with my home movie DVD player.

As much as I posted here and in other places, no one ever mentiond these factors, which I consider to be very significant.

The +R people may have Microsoft behind their format; but, it certainly was not a consumer-oriented decision.

 

Thanks Alex. That certainly was a bit of an eye opener. If you have the link to the document you read, please post it.

Thanks again.

Ace

 

Sorry, I can't find the document that told me about the two-sided thing. And it surprises me there ae so many docuiments on the web that discuss DVD formats and this business about the two-sided recording is so obscure.

 

Thanks again Alex.

 

This is not the exact document I was trying to find; but, it is the most exhaustive I've seen. It does cover the -R and +R but not in a sort of side-by-side comparison as I found in another as yet unidentifed document

http://www.dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html

 

Found it:
http://www.dvdirect.com/TSS/charts/DVDFormats.htm

Much more if you care to spend a significant portion of your life reading:
http://www.dvdirect.com/Site/TOC.htm